Sanchez Wins Approval for $6 Million in Research Funds

Published: November 3, 2008

Congresswoman Linda Sánchez announced recently that she has secured support for $6 million in federal funding for CSULB’s Center for the Commercial Deployment of Transportation Technologies, an advanced maritime and transportation research institution.

“This funding is important not only for Cal State Long Beach, but for continued innovation of clean transportation technologies to protect the environment, ” Sánchez pointed out. “I am pleased that I was able to double funding this year to support cutting-edge research at CSULB that will eventually help us to move cargo from our ports without congesting our roads with trucks.”

The funds, which were included in the Defense Appropriations bill, will support research on critical maritime transportation issues, including the efficient movement of military and civilian cargo through local ports, as well as the effectiveness of cargo port and supply chain security. The bill is expected to be passed soon by the U.S. Senate and be signed into law by President George W. Bush.

“We are proud to have the support of Congresswoman Sánchez and are thrilled to receive this funding,” said CSULB President F. King Alexander. “Working with local transportation officials, the university will utilize the funding to enhance logistics, pollution reduction, congestion relief and goods movement research, which will benefit the military and residents of Southern California.”

Additional CSULB efforts include information technologies to improve the flow of commercial and military goods movement, pollution reduction of ship emissions while in port, short sea shipping (maritime highway), cargo systems to move shipping containers off highways, port disruption and recovery models, electronic tracking devices for military and commercial cargo, logistics curriculum development and training for the U.S. Navy (building on the university’s successful global logistics degree programs) and Innovation Cell funding to support new research that can be transitioned to the private sector.

The Department of Defense has a longstanding tradition of funding academic research centers that solve defense-related problems for the United States. “I am pleased that Cal State Long Beach can continue to receive such meaningful investments to upgrade technologies that affect our national interest,” said Sánchez.